The expectation would be that team president Lou Lamoriello is bullish on the future of the Islanders. But when it came time to explain just exactly why, he immediately turned to one of the few people really above him in the organization.

“Very bullish, and I’ll start with one reason: Scott Malkin, the owner,” Lamoriello said at Monday’s breakup day.

Lamoriello had been lured by Malkin and his partner, Jon Ledecky, last summer to leave the Maple Leafs and run the Islanders, which they had taken over control of just a year earlier after a transition period from Charles Wang, who has since died. Once Lamoriello came aboard, the culture of the organization began to shift.

“Everything that [Malkin] spoke to me about, when he spoke to me and he asked permission from Toronto, he has followed through on 100 percent,” Lamoriello said. “He’s given me the support and the resources to do what is necessary to have success.”

Lamoriello came on and almost immediately relieved 12-year general manager Garth Snow and coach Doug Weight. Quickly, he brought in coach Barry Trotz, who was coming off a Stanley Cup victory with the Capitals. It all happened very fast, and it led to a 103-point regular season and a second-round playoff exit at the hands of the Hurricanes, who moved on to the Eastern Conference final to face the Bruins.

Lou LamorielloGetty Images

Although getting swept by Carolina soured somewhat the Islanders’ first-round sweep of the Penguins, it was still a successful year in the eyes of many who never imagined the franchise making that quick of a turnaround. But it didn’t surprise Lamoriello, who brings with him the pedigree of three Stanley Cups with the Devils and helping the Maple Leafs and team president Brendan Shanahan turn their operation around.

But there was one provision that was make-or-break for Lamoriello coming to Long Island, and that was the new arena planned by ownership at Belmont Park. With the team shuttling back and forth between Barclays Center and the Coliseum for home games this season — and into the postseason — a new home was paramount for Lamoriello having any interest in joining the organization.

“I would not have come here if there was not going to be a new arena,” he said.

There has been some speculation the project might not get off the ground while in the midst of a lengthy environmental review, along with a minority voice of local citizens who are skeptical of the scale of the retail aspect of the project. But Lamoriello has been on all the calls about the status of the project and he still believes they are on schedule to break ground sometime after the Belmont Stakes in June.

“I have inside knowledge as much as you can possibly have,” Lamoriello said, “and I don’t have any question.”

It was an untenable situation this season splitting the home games, and that is most likely the case for the next two years before the Belmont arena is ready for the 2021-22 season (which could very well be delayed by a lockout). The preference for everyone would be to play the games at the Coliseum, but the revenue difference is just too vast — which is why the NHL chose to have the second round of the playoffs (and any subsequent rounds) at Barclays.

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“The Coliseum, unfortunately, would be a great place to play, but in today’s game, you cannot have a building like that,” Lamoriello said. “All you have to [do is] look at the old Boston Garden, the old Maple Leafs Garden, the Montreal Forum — there are reasons why they had to build new buildings and they’re not there anymore. They’d love to have that nostalgia and have the atmosphere back. But it’s the world we live in, and we need a building if the Islanders are going to be here in New York.”

This is all going to be an obstacle Lamoriello has to deal with when trying to lure free agents, most notably Blue Jackets winger Artemi Panarin.

“They know that we’re going to have a new building,” Lamoriello said. “They also know the commitment here is to winning and trying to do things the right way. Then they have to make those decisions.”

Just as Lamoriello did in trusting the owners, and one year in, he remains bullish.